American daily, The Wall Street Journal has launched a full-page advertisement against PM Narendra Modi, FM Nirmala Sitharaman and key figures in the judiciary and investigating agencies

The Wall Street Journal, like another US daily the New York Times, has apparently lost its ethics and has done what no serious publication worth any salt will do. It has carried a full-page advertisement targeting India, calling it an “unsafe place to invest,”

The WSJ advertisement names Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Antrix Corp Chairman Rakesh Sasibhushan, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Supreme Court Judges Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian, Special PC Act Judge Chandra Shekhar, CBI DSP Ashish Pareek, Enforcement Directorate's Sanjay Kumar Mishra, ED Asst Director R Rajesh, Addl. Solicitor General N Venkataraman, and ED Dy Director A Sadiq Mohamed, in an inappropriate manner. These officials have been investigating key cases that might affect the US-based lobbies' plan to derail India and thus they demanded the US government to levy sanctions against them as well.

“These Modi Government officials have decimated the rule of law by weaponizing the institutions of the state to settle scores with political and business rivals, making India unsafe for investors. We have asked the US government to impose economic and visa sanctions against them under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Under Modi, a decline in the rule of law has made India a dangerous place to invest. If you are an investor in India, you might be next,” read an anti-India vile advertisement titled 'Wanted Modi's Magnitsky 11'.

A cursory glance at this advertisement will show, even to a layman, that it is an open hate against India and it has been launched with an aim to malign the country’s image and undermine its progress. Through this advertisement, investors have been asked not to invest in India—a mischievous agenda that has been deliberately pushed at the time when India, as per the IMF, is expected to achieve 6.8 per cent growth in 2022 and 6.1 per cent in 2023, the highest for any large economy.

Both Germany and Italy, as per the IMF, will witness recession next year, while the UK is projected to grow at just 0.3 per cent next year, France at 0.7 per cent and the US at 1 per cent. China will also see a slow down and it is projected to grow at 3.2 per cent in 2022 and 4.4 per cent in 2023. What would not be music to the India haters’ ears is the multilateral agency’s report that said by 2025-26 India would equal Germany as the fourth largest economy and would become the third-largest economy by 2027-28 when it is projected to grow bigger than Japan.

IMF’s chief economist Pierre-Oliver Gourinchas said India has emerged as a “bright light” when the world is facing the imminent prospect of a recession. He hailed India’s digital innovation, stating India is very much at the forefront of digitalisation. In this context, the Wall Street Journal’s advertisement is like ploughing the sand. As India’s fate is at the hands of strong leadership and youth of the country are aspirational and committed to soaring high in their life, the Wall Street Journal’s advertisement will cut a sorry figure not only among Indians but also investors who are coming in hordes to invest in the country.